The man who's betting 2 million baht Vampire Weekend come to Bangkok

Potchara "Pear" Vichitranon is nervous. 

You could even say he’s freaking out, praying U.S. rock band Vampire Weekend will arrive on October 22 as planned for a concert at Bangkok's Thunderdome for "teenagers and a cool audience." If they don't, he could lose more than two million baht.

Pear, 28, is an ambitious, up-and-coming concert promoter, and has been trying to bring the four Americans to Thailand ever since he fell in love with their song, "A-Punk."

But even now, a week away from the show, he still needs constant assurance that the concert is all systems go. 

So don't mention the huge lawsuit Vampire Weekend is wrestling with in the United States, filed by the blonde woman whose photograph appears on the cover of the band's "Contra" album, for alleged misuse of her image without her permission. 

That album cover also appears on posters distributed in Thailand, advertising Vampire Weekend's Bangkok show, including a separate poster with her face zapped into a vivid drawing with pointy vampire fangs sticking out of her mouth. 

Pear is also hoping there won't be another insurrection by the pro-democracy red shirts who barricaded Bangkok's streets with bamboo spikes and rubber tires for nine weeks earlier this year.

The only thing Pear wants to hear are soothing cooing words about how everything is on track, so he can relax.

"The hardest thing about bringing them here is we have to manage everything on time," Pear says, projecting that stereotypical Thai smoothness despite the complexities of arranging a major concert. "They are on tour, so they never answer anything. So I have to ask my agent, 'Do I get them? Do I get them or not?' And it takes a week, or a month, just to get the answer from them.

"But they will come for sure, because they put us on their tour page already. But sometimes, this slow process makes me very nervous. Very nervous."

Sounding increasingly distraught, Pear then echoes his own fears out loud, voicing the distressed questions he asks his agent: "'Are they OK to come or not? Can I announce to the press that they come for sure, or anything?'"

Building a Bangkok fan base 

Pear realizes Vampire Weekend isn't that well known among music fans in Thailand, despite being huge in the United States, but he hopes to change all that. 

"I'm a promoter. I promote concerts and I bring a lot of artists here. My staff is only four or five people but when the concert time comes, I have to work with more than a hundred people -- freelancers." 

Pear is executive director of Lullaby, a company he started nearly eight years ago and now runs with a partner who is an "equal level" managing director. 

"The biggest concert that I ever made was the Smiley Fest," he says, proud of the Ska and Reggae International Music Festival in Pattaya which thrilled audiences last December, headlined by The Skatalites. 

"It was very big. There were like 10,000 people who attended the concert. So that was more difficult than this concert," he says. "Also, in March this year, I brought Kings of Convenience here, and it was a very big success because I sold out the tickets in one day."

Pear goes into rapture whenever fantastic music is involved.

"I graduated from the music faculty of Mahidol University, majoring in classical music, eight years ago. I play classical guitar. I used to compose music for films," he says.

"For me, because I am a musician, when I talk about The Skatalites, they are historical for me, something big. But for the audience, I think Vampire Weekend is more attractive to everybody.

Pear is lucky that Vampire Weekend also seem to be fans of Kings of Convenience, and were impressed that he was able to arrange their concert in Bangkok.

"The funny thing is, Vampire Weekend appreciate my work, because of what I did with the Kings of Convenience concert. They said, 'Wow it's fantastic work,' and they also want to come here."

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